Singles have no human rights.

This was the wailing coming from Yu You's heart as he chewed on a sweet potato.

I shouldn't be at the table, I should be under the table, watching your happiness.

But fortunately, Qiu rescued him.

Ah Qiu took the bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen, then sat down at the table, smiling: "How is it? Is it ok?"

Yu You nodded fiercely: "Yes, yes, it's delicious."

Much better than dog food!

Ah Qiu was happy. She looked at Shi Jin and said, "I just asked your grandma for you. She does know how to get to Tu Miao Spring."

"There are two ways to get to Tu Miao Spring. One is to go up from the mountain pass leading to the scenic spot. There is a small path behind the uninhabited temple on the mountainside. It is said to be hidden deep. And few people have walked there in recent years. I don't know if it is still there."

"As for the other way." Qiu thought for a moment, stood up and walked to the window: "It should be that one."

She pointed to the path behind the stilt house opposite the inn: "Grandma said it's on a path behind the stilt house. We can get there if we follow it."

Yu You said quickly: "This path is also blocked."

"Ah?" Qiu was stunned: "How did you know?"

Yu You looked at Shi Jin a little embarrassedly, and seeing that he didn't stop him, he said, "Brother Shi Jin and I couldn't sleep last night, so we went out for a walk and happened to see that path."

He didn't say that they were heading for Tu Miao Spring, but slightly modified the wording: "We were bored anyway, so we just walked down the path. But about halfway down, the path disappeared and was covered with grass."

"Is that so?" Qiu nodded.

"If this path is blocked, then you can only try your luck on the one on the mountain. Grandma said these are the only two paths that can be taken."

Qiu thought for a moment and said, "But this path seems to be closer."

She whispered to herself, "When Arnold went to Tu Miao Spring before, he must have taken this road, right?"

Yu You didn't hear clearly: "What did you say?"

"Nothing." A Qiu raised his head and smiled: "Eat, eat. If you want to go to Tu Miao Spring, you have to eat first. It's still quite far from here to Tu Miao Spring. It's easy to get hungry after going back and forth."

"How long does it take to get to Tu Miao Spring from here?"

"It takes about three or four hours to go back and forth, right?" Qiu hesitated for a moment. "But grandma isn't sure either. She said the last time she went to Tu Miao Quan was four or five years ago."

Shi Jin raised his eyelids: "I heard that Tu Miao Spring was originally the main development attraction here?"

A Qiu nodded: "Yes, initially the city wanted to develop Tu Miao Spring and make it a popular tourist attraction."

"But then something went wrong and the development of Tu Miao Spring was put on hold. Then an investor took over the development and said Tu Miao Spring was unlucky, so they finally decided to give up Tu Miao Spring and develop the village into a scenic spot, forming a scenic area together with the uninhabited temple on the mountain."

Yu You asked: "Isn't it said that Tu Miao Spring is quite far from here? If we include Tu Miao Spring, it will be difficult to plan the scenic spot, right?"

"It's actually not bad." Qiu took a few small things from the counter and said, "Look at this, doesn't it look like it's made of bamboo?"

The ingeniously woven animal lay in Aqiu's palm, delicate and lively.

Shi Jin looked at it a few more times.

A Qiu put a few woven rabbits on the table: "Although this looks very much like bamboo weaving, its raw material is a kind of grass called thatch. After drying, its color and texture are very similar to bamboo, and it is easier to handle than bamboo."

"This kind of thatch has very high requirements for where it grows. In this mountain, there is only thatch near Tu Miao Spring. In the early years, people in the village made a living by weaving. When we first wanted to develop Tu Miao Spring, I heard that people above us were planning to add this weaving art to the promotional brochure."

"But now there are not many people who can weave this way. It seems that there are only three or four people left in the village who can weave straw."

Ah Qiu raised his head with some pride and said, "One of them is my grandma. These little things were all made by my grandma."

Yu You was holding a straw rabbit in his hand. Hearing this, he was curious: "Can you weave it?"

Ah Qiu's face fell: "I don't know how to do it. My grandma taught me, but it's too difficult."

The difficulty lies not in the weaving, but in the process of handling the thatch before weaving.

"But if you are interested, you can go find Arnold. Arnold has learned from me before. Last year, he even went to collect straw to make small animals and sell them to tourists."

The clues seemed to go around and around and circle back to the beginning.

After lunch, Shi Jin went upstairs.

They planned to go to Tu Miao Quan together in the afternoon. Considering that the journey was long and the round trip would take a long time, Yu Ci asked him to come up and get a coat.

The coat was hung on the clothes rail by the window.

Shi Jin walked to the window and took off his coat, his eyes inadvertently passing over the window.

A boy in ethnic costume walked hurriedly outside the window.

Shi Jin frowned slightly and went downstairs.

Yu Ci was waiting for him at the stairs. He was tall and had long legs, with a casual expression. When he saw Shi Jin calm down, he raised his eyebrows slightly: "Alright?"

"Yeah." Shi Jin walked quickly to Yu Ci and spoke a little quickly: "I just saw Arnold walking to the east of the village."

Just now when they were having dinner, he had told Yu Ci about Chen Yuan, including last night's exploration and the abnormality of Arnold that he saw this morning.

Then Yu Ci understood what he meant.

He quickly recalled: "The east side of the village is full of ordinary houses, the only exception is the teacher's dormitory."

Shi Jin nodded: "When Arnold was drawing this morning, he said that tomorrow is Teacher Bai's birthday and he wants to give Teacher Bai a gift."

Now Arnold should give the gift he prepared this morning to "Teacher Bai".

The two looked at each other.

Yu Ci walked out first: "Go ask him directly."

Arnold didn't walk fast. Teenagers are short on foot. He seemed to be thinking about something and had to stop after every few steps. Shi Jin and Yu Ci soon caught up with him.

Arno heard footsteps behind him. He turned around, his eyes slightly lit up: "Brother Yu Ci, Brother Shi Jin."

Yu Ci curled the corners of his lips, smiled and rubbed his head: "Where is Arnold going?"

Arnold paused while holding the album, and lowered his voice: "Tomorrow is Teacher Bai's birthday, I want to give her a gift."

As far as Arnold knew, Shi Jin didn't know that Teacher Bai was missing.

So he pursed his lips slightly: "Then why don't you go in?"

"Teacher Bai is missing."

As if these words had touched a switch, Arnold's body shook violently.

He hugged the album tightly, buried his head in his chest, and was shaking all over: "Teacher Bai has been taken away."

Shi Jin and Yu Ci looked at each other and saw solemnity in each other's eyes.

Shi Jin squatted down, held Arnold's shoulders with both hands, and said in a softer tone: "Arnold, don't be afraid, just speak slowly."

Perhaps it was because the softened tone soothed him, Arnold's trembling body slowly calmed down.

"You just said that Teacher Bai was arrested."

Shi Jin's eyes fell on Arnold's drooping hair, and his voice was calm: "Can you tell me how you knew that?"

Arnold suddenly raised his head, staring at Shi Jin with his distinct black and white eyes: "I saw it..."

His voice was trembling, his face was pale, and his lips were trembling: "I saw..."

"...I saw Teacher Bai...she was taken away by a ghost!"

"At Tu Miao Quan!"

——

"Fuck."

Yu You looked at the boy who was shivering in the chair while holding a water cup, and couldn't help but swear: "This place is really haunted."

Yu Ci glanced at him and said, "Don't say bad words in front of children."

Yu You scratched his head and said, "I couldn't help it. I will be more careful next time."

"But...are we just going to stay like this now?"

The place where they were now staying was Arnold's room.

Arnold's room is not big, but very tidy. There is some dried grass in the corner, which should be the thatched grass used for weaving that Qiu mentioned.

At this moment, Arnold was sitting in the bedroom, Shi Jin and Yu Ci were standing by the window and the door respectively. The expressions on their faces were as if they were copied and pasted. It seemed that he was the only one who could speak in the whole room.

Yu You looked around and found a small stool in the corner of the room and sat down.

The air was quiet.

Yu You was counting the seconds silently in his mind. When he counted to 396, Arnold, who was sitting in the **, spoke.

"Teacher Bai went to help me find the necklace."

The boy sitting in the bedroom lowered his head and said, "I lost my necklace when I was cutting grass. Teacher Bai said I was not paying attention in class. I told her I wanted to find the necklace, but she wouldn't let me."

"That necklace was left to me by my mother. Teacher Bai asked me to listen carefully in class and said that if I listened carefully, the necklace would be returned the next day."

The boy spoke in reverse order, but the three people in the room understood him.

Arnold lost the necklace his mother left for him while he was cutting thatch at Tuomiaquan. He was distracted by this incident during class and was seen by Mr. Bai, who was paying attention to him.

After Teacher Bai knew about this, he asked him to concentrate on the class. Then after school, he carried his backpack and went up the mountain alone to Tu Miao Quan to help Arnold find his lost necklace.

"After school, I wanted to go to Tu Miao Spring to look for the necklace. On the way, I heard Ah Cheng's grandfather say that he saw Teacher Bai going up the mountain. I thought Teacher Bai must have gone to help me find the necklace, so I was very happy."

"During the holidays, Teacher Bai went with me to Tu Miao Quan to help me cut thatch. I took her along the mountain road at that time, but the mountain road was long and I wanted to find Teacher Bai quickly, so I went through the small path in the village."

The boy's voice was unconsciously filled with tears. He reached out and wiped away his tears. "I walked for a long, long time. When I arrived at Tu Miao Spring, it was dark and I couldn't see anything. I was very scared. Teacher Bai was not there, and I didn't find my necklace either."

"It was too dark, I didn't dare go back alone, I wanted to go with Teacher Bai, but I couldn't find her no matter how hard I looked. I was so scared."

Yu You patted Arnold's head comfortingly: "Don't cry, don't cry, don't be afraid."

Seeing that Arnold's emotions had calmed down a little, he said, "And then, did you go down the mountain by yourself without finding Teacher Bai?"

"And then, and then..." Arnold's emotions broke down again, and he burst into tears: "I found Teacher Bai's skirt in the cave, and a lot of her hair. She must have been taken away and eaten by a ghost."

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't lost the necklace, Mr. Bai wouldn't have been taken away by a ghost."

Yu You was frantically trying to comfort the crying boy.

In the chaos, Yu Ci hung up the phone, and his dark eyes met Shi Jin's: "The fingerprints sent for testing have been compared with those in the database, and the results show..."

"The woman in Qiuluan is indeed Bai Rushuang."